#SohbahSeries: The Two Pillars of Islam

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

Maulana Sheikh Nazimق’s Suhbah

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By the name of Allah, All-Mighty, All-Merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent.

We are living in a time when everything has been changed and is appearing in its opposite form. Things have been taken from their original state and presented in false shapes. Even Islam has been altered in this way.

You may look at Islam today and see that in our time, scholars and statesmen are presenting Islam in a form that is not its original one. They shape it according to the desires of their egos, and each one gives a description of Islam that pleases himself. Thus, thousands of different versions appear, yet all of them are wrong.

They are changing Islam from its true form into something unheard of, speaking in the name of Islam only what their egos command. What their egos suggest, they claim as Islam, and what their desires dictate, they do in the name of Islam. We reject all of them.

Look at the war between Iran and Iraq in 1985, a war waged in the name of Islam. But we do not accept it from either side, for it is not Islam. Everywhere today, people are no longer trying to follow Islam; instead, they are trying to make Islam follow them. That is the most dangerous and terrible path that people are taking.

We must follow the Sunnah, the practice of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. What did he call people to? For what did he fight? He fought only for truth against falsehood. Batil, falsehood, is the claim of your ego. Whenever hearts do not meet upon one point, that is falsehood.

Islam brought tawhid (unity), and every heart must meet upon that point of unity. In Islam, there is no “this one thinking this, that one thinking that, and everyone going his own way.” No. All must unite upon tawhid.

We are accepting our Lord ﷻ and claiming servanthood to Him ﷻ; therefore, we must live in servanthood and nothing else.

Sultan al-‘Arifin Abu Yazid al-Bistamiق said that Islam is built upon two pillars, two simple things: the highest respect for our Lord Almighty and compassion towards His servants and His creation.

We find that Islam stands upon these two pillars, and nothing else. These two include everything. With them, everyone can measure his actions. Before doing anything, the first point to consider is whether it shows respect to your Lord ﷻ.

That is why the Prophet ﷺ said that respect to your Lord ﷻ is to begin everything by saying Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim. That is the respect you give to your Lord ﷻ at the beginning of every action. You must know that if He ﷻ does not give permission, you cannot succeed in any action, you cannot even move your hands or feet.

Then you must care for and be compassionate towards every creature. Even when killing is necessary, the Prophet ﷺ ordered that it be done with ihsan (kindness). When slaughtering a sheep or a cow, do it gently, causing as little pain as possible.

Even if you kill a harmful insect or animal, you must use something that causes the least pain and kills instantly. Therefore, it is prohibited to burn people, animals, or insects.

Allah ﷻ forbids burning, for only He may burn. No one has permission to use fire to harm others. Yet today, people are preparing to burn the whole world, everyone in it, all nations!

You must be compassionate. You must not even step on an ant without reason, because it also has life. When it sees you coming to kill it, it runs away. It feels death and its pain, and therefore it runs. It also glorifies its Lord ﷻ. Without giving you any harm, you have no right to kill it.

If you kill, you must carry that responsibility. Islam came with endless compassion for all creatures, for everyone. That is the true measure of Islam, as described by the awliya.

Therefore, we are the most fortunate of all creatures because we have been created for the endless Mercy Oceans of our Lord, Allah Almighty.

And Allah Almighty asks one thing from His servants. What is that?

“O My servants, I am merciful to all of you. Be merciful to My servants, be merciful to My creatures. That is what I am asking from you.”

The last time Jibreel (AS) came to the Prophet ﷺ, he said, “This is the last time that I will come to you to bring orders. Prophethood is finished, and no more will I bring any message from the heavens.”

The Prophet ﷺ asked, “Will you ever come again to the earth?”

Jibreel (AS) answered, “Yes, I will come, but not to give. I will come to take away.”

He (AS) said, “I will take knowledge from the earth so that ignorance will cover the world.” And we see today that people even deny their Creator. They stop at the words La ilaha “there is no God.”

That is the darkest point of ignorance. If a person knows everything but does not know the Owner of himself and of the whole universe, he is truly ignorant!

Jibreel (AS) continued, “I will take away barakah (blessings) from the earth.” And indeed, blessings have been lifted. You may find everything now. People earn plenty, fill their pockets, yet they are saying, “Not enough, not enough!”

I remember that in Cyprus, during the time of Queen Victoria, there was a coin of three pence, three piasters, a small piece of silver. It was enough for a person for one day, even enough for a family. Some coins were even less than three piasters.

There were shepherds who watched sheep all day for one piaster. Their owner gave them bread and olives to eat and one piaster as pay. Thirty piasters for a month, and they were happy!

Later, some people went to London from Cyprus. They worked and said they earned two pounds, three pounds, even four pounds a week. We were astonished. “Hah, so much money! Each week or each month?” “Each week,” they said.

In Cyprus, a respected officer earned five pounds a month. A policeman earned one and a half pounds monthly, and he worked from early morning to night, sometimes the whole night, not like the police in our time, six hours and finished. Yet they were proud and thankful, saying, “We have a job, we are policemen, we have uniforms and a fez (hat).”

Then Jibreel (AS) said, “I will take away mercy from the hearts.”

Yesterday I heard about something that shows the mentality of people in sports. In football, they injure players and leave them on the ground, then force them to play again. What mercy is in their hearts? What kind of humanity is that?

This is only one example. Each day more dangerous things appear because mercy has left hearts. Look at the newspapers, you will see that people are becoming like robots, no more mercy, their hearts turned to stone.

Mercy is finished in hearts. Very few people are keeping mercy, because mercy cannot live in a heart that has lost belief. Whoever does not believe in his Lord ﷻ, you cannot find mercy in his heart.

If a person truly believes, even when told to kill an insect, he will think first, saying, “That creature glorifies its Lord. Why should I harm it unless it harms me?” How then can one kill innocent people? Yet now they invent weapons that destroy cities and burn nations. It is prohibited to kill anyone who is harmless, who does not do harm!

At the time of Nuh (AS), Allah ﷻ sent water as a flood. Now He sends fire, by the hands of men. This world has become a fire flood, because mercy has left.

Islam stands against such hardness. Therefore, its Prophet ﷺ came with mercy.

“Will you come yet again?” the Prophet ﷺ asked softly.

Jibreel (AS) replied, “I will come once more. To take away haya (modesty), from the earth.”

Look outside now and see men and women, how they are dressing! In earlier times, mothers and grandmothers were ashamed even in their bedrooms to be as people now appear outside. Is that humanity, is that honor, is that modesty?

This is the news from the heavens given to the Prophet ﷺ fifteen centuries ago, and it has appeared in our time exactly as foretold. No more knowledge leads people to goodness, honesty, and honor, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. It is finished.

People are learning, but learning for what? Only to support the kingdom of shaytan on earth. They are learning how to strengthen shaytan’s kingdom, that is all the knowledge they seek.

Even religious schools no longer give pure heavenly knowledge. Shaytan does not allow it, saying, “No, it is no good. You must mix up something else with that knowledge.”

As the Prophet ﷺ informed us, this time has come. You must look carefully at what you are doing.

So when we said that everyone describes Islam according to his own shaytan, it is true. Every man has his own shaytan with him, and he molds Islam according to that.

Therefore, the future of this generation is dark and black. You cannot see any brightness or light. It is black, dark black, and Allah ﷻ knows what will rise from those dark horizons and fall upon people. There must be something, and that is a punishment that people will be given from themselves to each other.

Islam brought respect and mercy. We have lost both of them. In the Divine Presence, one life among the children of Adam (AS) is more precious than the whole world, yet we have made it cheaper than a fly’s.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “The Most Merciful shows mercy to those who are merciful. Be merciful to those on earth, and the One above the heavens will show mercy to you.” The whole secret of salvation lies in mercy.

When winter comes, the whole world is covered in snow. So it is now with hearts, covered and cold, and mercy no longer enters.

Before leaving this world to return to his Lord ﷻ’s Divine Presence, The Prophet ﷺ gathered his nation and said, “O my ummah, keep mercy. Be merciful.” This was his advice, and it is enough for those who listen with their hearts.

May Allah ﷻ forgive us. We are asking forgiveness at every moment. When people hand over their wills to devils, this is the result. They kill each other and destroy everything for causes that have no truth in them.

Islam came with respect to the Creator ﷻ and mercy to His creation. Whoever revives these two pillars revives the very heart of Islam.

May Allah ﷻ return mercy to our hearts and respect to our actions.

May He ﷻ guide us back to the original Islam and protect us from the darkness of our egos and the deception of shaytan.

Al-Fatiha.

• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق

More sohbahs from the Liberating the Soul Series can be found here.

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This series was initiated by the SufiHub Team in honour of the 2nd Urs of our beloved Sheikh, the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan, who lovingly dedicated himself to transcribing and summarising the daily sohbahs of Mawlana Sheikh Nazimق.

It was through this blessed service that he began his journey on this beautiful Way in 2008, remaining steadfast upon it until his final breath in 2023. Today, his legacy continues at our Zawiyah at A’Posh Bizhub Singapore through his representatives Sidi Shalihin, Ismail, and Syed Muhammad, who humbly carry forward the path he sincerely paved.

We pray that our dear Sheikh Abdul Sattar has been reunited with his beloved Mawlana Sheikh Nazimق and all our Grandshaykhs, and that their light continues to guide us always on the way of Haqq.

The text was originally taken from Liberating the Soul – A Guide for Spiritual Growth by Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق. With love and sincere intention, parts of this sohbah have been gently revised by the SufiHub Team for clarity and contextual relevance.

If you wish to share it on your platforms, kindly post it in full and ensure that proper credit is given to all its sources. For this is adab, the very core of our beautiful religion and way.

Should you have any queries or concerns, you are always welcome to reach us at thesufihubteam@gmail.com.

Wassalam.

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